Visiting Mary on Christmas Day

The true heroes on birth days are mothers, a status all the more enhanced when the magical moment occurs in less than ideal conditions, like in a manger surrounded by livestock. So in recognition of this I toured a few depictions of Mother Mary throughout the city. Here’s the route I followed, purple line going one way, blue line coming back.

First stop was just inside the gates of St Vincent Hospital overlooking Lebretton Flats towards the Gatineau Hills. That’s where this statue of Mary stands in a small grotto.

Mary at St Vincent Hospital

in my last post I lamented not being able to cross over the pretty white bridge leading to New Edinburgh. I took a closer look at the map and discovered there was another way to gain access by following a path off Sussex Drive as shown on the above map. The plaque mounted on one of the steel supports tells us it’s the Minto Bridge, installed in 1900.

White Minto Bridge

I was also able to ride along the well travelled and packed down Rideau River Trail as far as Beechwood Avenue. A little bumpy but well worth it.

Rideau River Trail in winter

The second depiction of Mary on our tour is this statue at the end of Avenue des Pères Blancs. The Pères Blancs is a Catholic Society of Missionairies of Africa whose scholasticate occupied the site of Parc Richelieu. They were expropriated by the city of Vanier when the province ordered the city to acquire more park land. This statue of the Virgin Mary left by the missionaries greets visitors as they enter the park.

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Need a bike route?

If you are looking for a bike route to work, or any other destinations around the region, send me two points of reference: a starting point (like a street intersection, or address, or landmark, etc) and the final destination. These can be sent via the ‘Leave a comment’ tag, or by email at OttawaVeloOutaouais@gmail.com . If the start and finish destinations are within an hour’s ride from each other (and most are) I will scout out a bike route and describe it on this blog, or point you to a link if I've aready tried it out.